ISSN 0798 1015
                             HOME           Revista ESPACIOS !                ÍNDICES !              A LOS AUTORES !
                                              Vol. 38 (Nº 44) Año 2017. Pág. 4
    Scientific research standards and
    policies: scientific mobility in America
    Políticas y normas de investigación científica: movilidad
    científica en America
    Roberto GARCÍA VACACELA 1; Walter MERA ORTIZ 2; Nícolas VILLAVICENCIO BERMUDES 3
      Recibido: 02/05/2017 • Aprobado: 01/06/2017
    Content
    1. Introduction
    2. Research Findings
    3. Discussion
    4. Conclusions
    Bibliographic references
       ABSTRACT:                                                     RESUMEN:
       Science is international by nature. Scientific exchange       La ciencia es internacional por naturaleza. El
       of researchers and international mobility is important in     intercambio científico de investigadores y la movilidad
       quality of research output and hence its relevance and        internacional es importante en la calidad de la
       efficiency in solving general everyday societal life          producción de la investigación por lo tanto relevante y
       problems (Marcio L. Rodrigues, Leonardo Nimrichter,           eficiente en la solución de los problemas generales de la
       Radames J. B. Cordero, 2016). This paper discuss the          vida cotidiana de la sociedad (Marcio L. Rodrigues,
       scientific research policies and standards then narrows       Leonardo Nimrichter, Radames J. B. Cordero, 2016).
       down to one of the major developing trends in the             Este artículo discute las políticas y normas de
       latter, scientific mobility in America.                       investigación científica y para concluir una de las
       Keywords Standards, Policies, Mobility, Research.             principales tendencias, la movilidad científica en
                                                                     América. 
                                                                     Palabras clave Normas, Políticas, Movilidad,
                                                                     Investigación
    1. Introduction
    Although not considered to be formal laws within society, standards still work to promote a
    great deal of scientific research control. They are statements that regulate conduct. The cultural
    phenomenon, that is the norm, is the prescriber of acceptable behavior in specific instances
    (John, 2016). Ranging in variations depending on culture, race, religion, and geographical
    location, it is the foundation of the terms, some know acceptable, as not to injure others, the
    golden rule, and to keep promises that have been pledged. Without them, there would be
  experimentations without consensus, common ground, or restrictions (Korku Ayenyo, et al.,
  2015). Even though the societal laws and a state's legislation is not intended to control but
  regulate the research standards, the society, which is involved in a large part, and the law are
  inherently linked and one dictates the other.
  The language used in some legislation is controlling and dictating for what should or should not
  be accepted. The language surrounding these laws conveys the message that such acts are
  supposedly immoral and should be condemned, even though there is no actual victim in these
  consenting relationships. This applies in the research community. As research is done on the
  people for their benefit, there are rules guidelines and standards that aim at ensuring that both
  parties are protected from harm, both physical and emotional, as a result of the research
  proceedings.
  For example, bioethical thinking, initiated against well known cases of disregard to human
  dignity and rights in research involving humans, became institutionalized in the Europe and
  USA in the form of standards, regulations and corporate bodies, such as committees and
  commissions entrusted with their interpretation and application. This is as a result of the fact
  that translation of research evidence into public policy, demands that researchers be aware of
  their role in the globalized scientific community and interacts with their peers internationally at
  a comparable level of competency.
  On the other hand, policies are deliberate systems of principles that are set to guide decisions
  and achieve rational outcomes. Or rather, a policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented
  as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by the Board of or senior governance
  body within the research community where as procedures or protocols would be developed and
  adopted by senior executive officers in the field's regulation body. Policies can assist in both
  subjective and objective decision making. Policies to assist in subjective decision making would
  usually assist senior management with decisions that must consider the relative merits of a
  number of factors before making decisions and as a result are often hard to objectively test e.g.
  work-life balance policy for those involved in research work assistance. In contrast policies to
  assist in objective decision making are usually operational in nature and can be objectively
  tested e.g. password policy.
  Research policies provide a framework to ensure that the research programs in an institution or
  a region are relevant, necessary, efficient and effective. They are also tailored to create
  transparency and uniformity in research planning, implementing and monitoring research
  processes. The policies clearly maps out the processes of identifying and prioritizing the
  research needs and initiating research projects; procedure for preparation and approval of the
  research proposals; guidelines for identifying funding sources and modes of acquisition;
  mechanisms for project monitoring and control; dissemination of research results and
  evaluation of research effectiveness and impact.
  Some of the major reasons for setting up research policies are to describe the factors such as
  relevance to national as well as international objectives for development, research project's
  necessity to bridge the knowledge gaps in the society that hinders technological advancements
  and to advance the utility of existing technology (Marcio L. Rodrigues, Leonardo Nimrichter,
  Radames J. B. Cordero, 2016). The policies also ensure that the objectives of the research
  project are successfully and objectively met with minimal use of resources available; this
  translates to the efficiency of the project design. To add on top, the policies also aid the
  effectiveness of research which is evaluated in terms of its potential to achieve the desired
  results in satisfying the national objectives as well as the adoption and application of research
  findings in solving problems in the society (John, 2016). The following section describes briefly
  on the fundamental hallmarks of a good research policy.
  1.1. Content of research policies.
  Generally policies are typically promulgated through official written documents. Policy
  documents often come with the endorsement or signature of the executive powers within the
  research community to legitimize the policy and demonstrate that it is considered in force
  (Nakamura, 1987). Such documents often have standard formats that are particular to the
  research community board of regulation issuing the policy. The policy documents usually
  contain certain standard components including:
   A purpose statement, outlining why the organization is issuing the policy, and what its desired effect
   or outcome of the policy should be.
   An applicability and scope statement, describing who the policy affects and which actions are
   impacted by the policy. The applicability and scope may expressly exclude certain people,
   organizations, or actions from the policy requirements. Applicability and scope is used to focus the
   policy on only the desired targets, and avoid unintended consequences where possible.
   An effective date which indicates when the policy comes into force. Retroactive policies are rare, but
   can be found.
   A responsibilities section, indicating which parties and organizations are responsible for carrying out
   individual policy statements. Many policies may require the establishment of some ongoing function
   or action. For example, a purchasing policy might specify that a purchasing office be created to
   process purchase requests, and that this office would be responsible for ongoing actions (Núñez,
   2014). Responsibilities often include identification of any relevant oversight and/or governance
   structures.
   Policy statements indicating the specific regulations, requirements, or modifications to organizational
   behavior that the policy is creating. Policy statements are extremely diverse depending on the
   organization and intent, and may take almost any form (Núñez, 2015).
  Some policies may contain additional sections, including:
   Background, indicating any reasons, history, and intent that led to the creation of the policy, which
   may be listed as motivating factors. This information is often quite valuable when policies must be
   evaluated or used in ambiguous situations, just as the intent of a law can be useful to a court when
   deciding a case that involves that law.
   Definitions, providing clear and unambiguous definitions for terms and concepts found in the policy
   document.
  1.2. Scientific mobility.
  Scientific mobility is an emerging trend in the research standards and policies which is
  encouraged by major regulation bodies in the scientific research societies (John, 2016). The
  mobility of scientists has been realized to be of great significance since it brings about
  circulation of knowledge and ideas which, in turn and when applied, results in some sort of
  transformation. This transformation of knowledge is often to adopt external knowledge to local
  specifications and usage. In so doing, it engenders a change in the host reservoir of knowledge
  and affects its knowledge profile in the long run. And hence, this brings change and
  modification within a locality.
  Scientific mobility describes the growing movement of scientists and tertiary students of science
  around the world. Scientific mobility has, as a part of its function, enhanced scientific expansion
  and the formation of gravity centers in science (Korku Ayenyo, et al., 2015). Through the
  mobility of scientists, scientific traditions that are embodied in certain schools or departments
  expand to embrace other spatial sites of science and include them in their social spaces.
  With the rise of the so-called ‘emerging’ economies, research and development are spreading
  their reach across the globe. Multinational firms are playing an important role in this process.
  By establishing research facilities in foreign countries, they are fostering knowledge transfer
  and the accrued mobility of research personnel. Importantly, this phenomenon is a two-way
  street. Multinational firms from Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa
  (the BRICS countries) are not only a magnet for foreign multinationals; these firms ‘born in the
  BRICS’ are also purchasing high-tech companies in North America and Europe and thereby
  acquiring skilled personnel and a portfolio of patents overnight.
  2. Research Findings
  A statistical research on international post-doctoral student’s mobility was carried out by the
  UNESCO Institute for statistics on a number of countries including America (Stewart Shannon,
  Stacy Springs, 2015) and the United Kingdom. The findings were as described below.
  2.1. Long-term growth of tertiary-level international students
  worldwide, 1975–2013.
  The recognition of qualifications and studies is one of the principal instruments that contributes
  to fostering the mobility of persons between countries of Latin America, and that can help in
  universities and countries collaborations on the continent. The number of international students
  rose by 46% between 2005 and 2013, from 2.8 million to 4.1 million, according to the UNESCO
  Institute for Statistics. Many governments are accompanying this movement out of a desire to
  develop a knowledge economy or maintain their international competitiveness. The United
  States of America, United Kingdom and France hosted the largest contingents of international
  doctoral students in science and engineering in 2012 (Stewart Shannon, Stacy Springs, 2015).
  The United States alone accounts for half of these students (49%), followed by the United
  Kingdom (9%) and France (7%), Australia (5%), Canada and Germany (4%), Switzerland,
  Japan and Malaysia (3%). The United States also stands out for the small share of its doctoral
  students who choose to study abroad, just 1.7%, compared to 12.3% of French PhD students
  and 18.0% of Canadians [4]. These countries may be the most attractive destinations for
  institutions in the region among the nationals of each country for a first Latin American
  exchange compared to other options that cannot be entirely excluded, but that are in the end
  more costly than exchange among countries of the region.
  The institutional poles of knowledge production on scientific mobility, in all cases, are a few
  institutions, for example seven in Brazil. The interests of the researchers are varied, but
  always-strong lines of inquiry concern the scientific mobility. In Argentina, Brazil and Mexico,
  researchers generate the knowledge about internationalization. In Chile and Panama, part of
  the knowledge emanates from official documents, just beginning to occupy space on the
  national research agenda. Until now, it has been essentially of interest to decision-makers and
  public policies were centrally aimed at increasing the number of PhDs trained outside and
  optimizing program management procedures.